Article packing machine and method



Aug. 21, 1962 A. M. LElTZEL 3,049,844

ARTICLE PACKING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 26, 1959 s Sheets-Sheet 2.I Fig 9 2:92 78 274 INVENTOR. MI 8'0 AMMo/v M LE/TZEL Buck/70m,Cheat/7am 8 Blare Fig. 4 ATTORNEYS 1 1962 A. M. LEITZEL 3,049,844

ARTICLE PACKING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 26, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 4Fig. /4

H 9 Fig.20 i

INVENTOR.

AMMON M. LE/TZEL Buck/70m, Cheat/7am 8 Elana ATTORNEYS ARTICLE PACKINGMACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 26, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 230 M36 F3 Fly.27 40 38 272 k 2/4 INVENTOR.

' AMMO/V M LE/TZEL BY Buck/20m, Cheat/7am 8 Flora I50 A T TORNE YSUnited States Patent 3,049,844 ARTICLE PACKING MACHINE AND METHOD AmmonM. Leitzel, Portland, Oreg, assignor to Pacific Pulp Molding (10.,Portland, Greg, a corporation of Washington Filed 0st. 26, 1959, Ser.No, 848,651 11 Claims. (Cl. 5335) This invention relates to .an articlepacking machine and method and more particularly to a machine and methodin which a stack of superimposed packing trays and articles loadedthereon are positioned in a container having an open top but otherwiseclosed by progressively lowering a loaded tray or stack of such loadedtrays in such container whileadding loaded trays to the top of suchstack.

The machine and method of the present invention is particularly adaptedfor packing fruit such as apples in paperboard cartons in which theapples or other fruits are supported upon and separated by trays made ofmolded pulp fibers. Such trays have article receiving pockets thereinand large numbers of such trays are employed for packing apples incartons. The conventional packing procedure is to place a tray in thebottom of an open carton and then place the apples manually in thepockets of the tray. Another trap is then placed on the resulting layerof apples and additional apples manually placed in the pockets of suchtray. This is continued until the carton is filled. Such procedure islaborious and time consuming although a considerable improvement overthe older procedure of wrapping each apple in an individual paperwrapper and placing it in a box or carton.

Attempts have been made to load the tray separately outside of thecarton and then place them in the carton. A machine for rapidly loadingthe trays by supporting and reciprocating trays under a chute depositingmeasured amounts of fruit in such trays has been successfully operatedbut difficulty has been encountered in placing the loaded trays in thecarton. Dropping of the loaded trays into the carton has caused bruisingof the fruit and also the trays have frequently tipped during the traydropping operation so as to be misaligned in the carton or even to spillthe apples from the trays into the carton. It has then been necessary toremove the tray and apples manually and again attempt to drop a loadedtray into the carton. The difficulty of placing the loaded trays in thecarton have prevented any con siderable use of such machine.

In accordance with the present invention, a loaded tray is supported ina carton or other container near the open top thereof, and such tray orstack of loaded trays is progres ively lowered in the container as moreloaded trays or stack of trays are superimposed in the container. Toprovide such support, a lower portion of the carton is pierced bysupport elements which are then raised and lowered in the carton. In themachine specifically disclosed herein, a support mechanism for a tray orstack of loaded trays includes a plurality of similar laterally spacedparallel metal rods having vertical portions secured at their lower endsto a common support memher and having horizontal portions extendingrearwardly of the machine and at right angles from the upper ends of thevertical portions. The horizontal portions of the rods terminate in freeends provided with points for penetrating a wall of a container. Thevertical portions are of somewhat greater length than the depth of thecontainer and the horizontal portions of somewhat lesser length than thewidth of the container. The support rods are reciprocable bothvertically in the direction of their vertical portions and horizontallyin the direction of their horizontal portions.

Patented Aug. 21, 1962 An empty container, such as a carton with itscover elements folded back to provide an open top, is placed in themachine in an upright position such that the points of the horizontalportions of the support rods are directed toward a side wall of thecarton .at points adjacent a lower corner of the carton. The supportrods are then moved horizontally toward the carton so that such pointspenetrate such side wall just above the upper surface of the bottom wallof the carton. The horizontal motion is continued until the horizontalportions of the rods .are forced entirely into the carton adjacent itsbottom Wall. This slightly enlarges the holes produced by thepenetration of the points and brings the vertical portions of thesupport rods just within the inner surface of the side wall referred to.

The support rods are then moved upwardly to bring their horizontalportions to a position adjacent the open top of the carton. Thehorizontal portions of the rods are thereby positioned to receive andsupport an article holding tray and constitute support portions forholding such tray in a horizontal position adjacent the open top of thecarton. Such a tray can be manually placed in position on such supportportions.

In the machine specifically shown, the carton .and tray along with thesupport rods are then given a horizontal reciprocation under a measuringchute and returned. During the return movement of the carton, themeasuring chute is tipped to load the tray by spreading a measuredquantity of articles to be packed upon the upper surface of the tray.The support rods are also moved a distance downwardly which isapproximately equal to the vertical height of a loaded tray. This placesthe loaded tray in position to have another empty tray manually placedon top of the articles in the loaded tray. The partly packed carton isthen given another reciprocation under the chute to load such empty trayand move the stack of trays and .articles downwardly. Another empty trayis positioned in the carton and the above described operations continueduntil the carton has been filled.

The tray support rods are then removed from the carton. Since thehorizontal tray support portions of the support rods are in theirlowermost position, they can be readily withdrawn from the carton. Thefilled carton is then discharged from the machine and the machine is incondition to receive another empty carton for another carton fillingoperation. The machine can be power driven and be made semiautomatic. Itcan be employed to rapidly pack articles such as pieces of fruit withoutdamage thereto and without tipping of the trays or spilling articlestherefrom.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improvedpacking machine and method for packing articles on packing trays incontainers for such objects and trays.

Another object of the invention is to provide a packing machine andmethod which can be employed to pack articles such as pieces of fruit ontrays in a container in a rapid manner avoiding damage to the articlesand avoiding spilling or misalignment of the trays.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pack ing machine andmethod in which supporting elements for trays receiving and holdingarticles being packed in a carton are inserted into such carton througha wall of the carton without substantial damage to the carton and inwhich such support devices progressively lower a filled tray or stack offilled trays as the carton is loaded with filled trays so that it isunnecessary to drop trays filled with articles into the carton.

A further object of the invention is to provide a packing machine andmethod in which pointed tray support elements are caused to penetrateinto a side wall of a container to provide horizontally extendingsupport portions which are vertically movable in the carton and aremoved downwardly during the filling of the container so that packingtrays loaded with articles to be packed are progressively lowered in thecontainer until the container is loaded, and then the support elementswithdrawn from the container, all without material damage to thecontainer.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a packing machineand method in which an open topped container to be packed is repeatedlyreciprocated under a chute for discharging into the container a measuredamount of articles to be packed and in which such articles are receivedon trays which are lowered a predetermined distance into such containerfor each such reciprocation so that dropping of the loaded trays intothe container is avoided.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment thereof described inconnection with the attached drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a machine in accordance with the presentinvention showing in dash dot lines the outline of a carton and of atray and articles thereon supported at an elevated position in thecarton;

FIG. 2 is partial side elevation of the other side of the machine fromthat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial front elevation of the machine of FIGS. 1 and 2 withparts broken away to show internal structure;

FIG. 4 is a partial rear elevation of the machine of FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 4 andshowing most of the elements of the machine in top plan;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing elements of a measuringchute actuating device;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line 7--'] of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical elevation through the measuring chuteof FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the drivemechanism of the machine including a speed reducing mechanism andcertain of the elements of a one revolution clutch;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 10-10of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of the side of the machine shownin FIG. 2 with the parts in a different position and with parts brokenaway to show internal structure of mechanism for raising and loweringtray supports;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary ectional view of a portion of the mechanism ofFIG. 11, taken on the line 1212 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line 1313 ofFIG. 11 and showing a pawl forming part of the mechanism for raising thetray supports;

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic front elevational view of the controlmechanism for the machine including a manually actuated element forinitiating the various cycles of the machine;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary horizontal section through a portion of thecontrol mechanism of FIG. 14 looking downwardly and taken on the line=1515 of FIG. 14; such section showing a cycle selecting mechanismcontrolled by the position of the tray supports;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary horizontal section through a portion of thesame mechanism shown in FIG. 15 at a lower portion of the machine andlooking upwardly, such section being taken on the line 1616 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary vertical section through another portion of themechanism of FIGS. 15 and .6, taken on the line 1717 of such FIG. 14;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary vertical section through another portion of thecontrol mechanism of FIG. 14, taken on the line 18-18 of FIG. 14 andshowing a tripping mechanism for causing the tray supports to be movedto their uppermost position;

FIG. 19 is a side elevation of one of the elements of the mechanism ofFIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a side elevation of another of the elements of the mechanismof FIG. 16;

FIG. 21 is a partial vertical section through a portion of the machinefrom front to rear;

FIG. 22 is a diagrammatic view showing an empty carton positioned in therear of the machine ready to be pierced by the tray supports movablefrom the front of the machine toward the rear thereof;

FIG. 23 is a view similar to FIG. 22, showing the carton still in therear of the machine and pierced by the tray supports;

FIG. 24 is a view similar to FIG. 22, showing the carton and traysupports moved to the front of the machine with the tray supports movedto their uppermost position and a tray supported thereon;

FIG. 25 is a view similar to FIG. 22, showing the carton, tray supportsand tray moved to the rear of the machine while such parts aremaintained in the same relative positions as in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a view similar to FIG. 22, showing the carton, tray supportsand tray of FIG. 25 after being moved to the front of the machine andshowing the tray in lower position and also showing articles beingpacked positioned on such tray and another tray positioned on sucharticles;

FIG. 27 is a view similar to FIG. 25, showing the carton and contents ofFIG. 26 moved to the rear of the machine; and

FIG. 28 is a digrammatic view showing the tray supports withdrawn fromthe carton and the carton being discharged from the machine after beingfilled by a repetition of the movements illustrated in FIGS. 24 to 27.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the machine shown in FIGS.1 and 2 includes a main frame 30 having upstanding rear corner posts 32and 34 (see also FIG. 4), supporting a supply chute 36 shown in FIGS. 1,3 and 8 for delivering a measured quantity of fruit or other articlesonto a tray, such as the tray 38 indicated in dash dot line in FIG. 1.The tray 38 is positioned on support members 40 in a carton 42 alsoindicated in dash dot lines in FIG. 1. The carton and tray have beenreciprocated under the chute 36 from their position at the front of themachine shown in FIG. 1 to the rear of the machine and back to the frontof the machine and during its return movement to the front of themachine, a measured quantity of fruit has been delivered from the chuteonto the tray. An empty tray is then placed on top of the articles andthe carton again reciprocated under the chute. The tray support membersare lowered each time the carton is thus reciprocated until the traysupport members reach the bottom of the carton and the carton is filled.

To provide for such reciprocation, the carton is supported in a carriage44 which has side plate members 46 and 48 (FIGS. 1 and 2) securedtogether by upper and lower cross members 50 and 52, respectively, bothpositioned at the front portion of the carriage. The upper crosspiece 50is shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 21 and the lower crosspiece 52 is shown in'FIG. 21. The side plate members 46 and 48 of the carriage are providedwith rollers 54 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, which run in tracks extendingbetween the front and rear of the machine at the sides of the frame 30.The track for the rollers 44 on one side of the machine is provided byupper and lower track members 56 and 58, respectively, as shown inFIG. 1. The track members 56 and 58 are secured at their rear ends tothe rear corner post 32 of the frame and at their front ends to anupstanding front corner post of the frame. The track for the rollers 54-on the other side of the machine is provided by upper and lower trackmembers 62 and 64, respectively, shown in FIG. 2. The track members 62and 64 are secured at their rear ends to the rear corner post 34- and attheir front ends to another upstanding front corner post 66.

The carriage 44 is reciprocated from its front position shown in FIGS.1, 2 and 5 to the rear of the machine and back to such front position bya connecting rod 68 rigidly connected at one end to a sleeve 70 shown inFIGS. 3 to 5 and 21. The sleeve 70 is journaled upon a cross shaft '72shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 21, which cross shaft extends between thecarriage side plate members 46 and 48. The other end of the connectingrod 68 is connected to one end of a crank arm 74 having its other endfLxed on the output shaft 76 (FIGS. 2 and 9) of a speed reducer 78, ofany desired type, the specific type shown being of the type having aplurality of speed reducing chain drives 7 9 in series. The chain drivesinclude sprockets on shafts journaled in end plates 80 also shown inFIGS. 3, 4 and 9. The plates 80 extend upwardly from a subframe 81(FIGS. 9 and 10) secured to the main frame 30 of the machine and providejournals for a drive control shaft 82. The drive control shaft controlsa one revolution mechanism which causes one revolution of the shaft 76and crank arm 74 to produce a rearward and then forward reciprocation ofthe carriage 44 each time the drive control shaft is given a pivotalmovement in a clockwise direction in FIG. 10.

The speed reducer 78 forms part of the one revolution mechanism. Thusthe speed reducer 78 has an input shaft 84 (FIGS. 2 and 10) driven froma motor 86 through a belt drive including a pulley 88 (FIG. 10) mountedon the input shaft 84, a pulley 90 mounted upon the shaft 92 of themotor and a belt 94 positioned upon such pulleys. The motor 86 runscontinuously during operation of the machine but the belt 94- isnormally sufficiently loose that the pulley 88 and shaft 84 are notrotated. The drive control shaft 82 has an arm 96 rigidly securedthereto and such arm has a right angularly disposed member upon which isjournaled an idler pulley 98 which tightens the belt 94 upon the pulleys88 and 90 to drive the speed reducer when the shaft 82 and arm 96carried thereby are rocked in a clockwise direction in FIG. 10. Thecrank arm immediately starts one revolution, thus moving out of contactwith the nose of a follower member 100 having its lower end pivotallymounted on the base of the subframe 81. Such pivoted fol-lower memberhas its upper end connected to the upper end of an arm holding member1112 by a link 104 The arm holding member also has its lower endpivotally mounted on the subframe 81. The arm holding member is inclinedas shown in FIG. 10 so a to be engaged by the free end of the arm 96throughout the rocking motion of the arm described above.

The arm holding member 1112 and follower member 186 are urged in acounterclockwise direction in FIG. 9 about their pivots by the spring 1%but are normally held in the position shown in PEG. 9 by the crank arm74 and the arm 96 on the drive control shaft 82. When the free end ofthe arm 96 has been rocked to its uppermost position by the drivecontrol shaft 82 and the crank arm 74 has moved away from the nose ofthe follower member 100, the members 1% and 162 are pivoted by thespring 186 to position in which a shoulder 1118 on the arm holdingmember 1112. is inserted beneath the free end of the arm 96 to hold itin its upper or rocked posi tion. This holds the belt in tightenedcondition and the speed reducer is driven until the crank arm 74 againcontacts the nose of the follower member 100 to move such member back tothe position shown in the drawing. This moves the shoulder 108 of thearm holding member from beneath the free end of the arm 96. The arm isthen rocked in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. '10 by the spring110 to lower the idler pulley 98 to thus stop the drive. The crank arm74 thus makes one revolution to reciprocate the carriage 44 rearwardlyand then forwardly each time the shaft 82 is rocked in acounterclockwise direction in FIG. 10. The reciprocation of the carriagethus carries the carton under the supply chute for the tray loadingoperation above described. The carriage is also given such areciprocation for discharging a filled carton and also anotherreciprocation to pierce another empty carton with the tray supportmembers and then raise such member in the carton after which the trayloading reciprocations are repeated. A control mechanism causes thissequence of operations and each actuation of the control mechanism rocksthe shaft 82 to cause a reciprocation of the carriage.

The drive control shaft 82 extends to one side of the machine and isalso journaled in a bearing member 111 shown in FIGS. 9 and l secured toa rear corner post 32. of the frame. Such shaft has an upwardlyextending lever arm 112, rigidly secured to its end adjacent such sideof the machine. Upper and lower links 114 and 116 (FIG. 1) connect suchlever arm 112 to the upper and lower arms, respectively, of a bell crank118 rigidly secured to a control rock shaft 120 extending laterallyacross the front of the machine and journa-led in the front corner posts60 and 66 (FIG. 5). Both links 114 and 116 have lost motion connectionsto the arms of the bell crank 118. Thus, the links 1'14- and 116 slidein apertures in the arms of the bell crank and are provided with stops122 which bear against the faces of the arms directed toward the leverarm 112 on the drive control shaft. -It will be apparent that rocking ofthe control shaft 120 in either direction from the position shown inFIG. 1 will rock the drive control shaft 82 in a clockwise direction inFIG. 1 to cause the drive to reciprocate the carriage as abovedescribed.

The control shaft 124 is rocked by depressing a manually actuated slidemember 124 guided for vertical reciprocation in an aperture in a guidemember 126 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) secured to and extending upwardly from anupper front cross member 128 (FIG. 3) forming part of the main frame 31As described below, repression of the sliding member will always rockthe control shaft 120 one way or the other. The direction the shaft 120is rocked controls the type of operation, such as a loading operation ora carton discharging operation, which is performed during the resultingreciprocation of the carriage. The direction in which the shaft 120 isrocked by any given depression of the slide member 124 is controlled bya selecting mechanism which is in turn controlled by the verticalposition of the tray support members 48. Such selecting mechanismincludes a rotary and vertically slidable selecting member 1341 (F168. 3and 14 to 17) which is reciprocated upwardly by a lever 132 when themanually actuated member 124- is manually depressed.

The lever 132 i pivoted intermediate its ends to a hanger member havingvertically extending arms 13d and 136 surrounding the shaft 120 inbearing relationship and having a horizontally extending portion 138forming an upper bearing for the selecting member 138. Such hangermember has one end secured to the front corner post 611 to prevent itfrom swinging on the control shaft 12%. The lever 132 is bifurcated soas to have an arm 1 19 on each side of the horizontally extendingportion 138 of the hanger member. The arms 141B terminate beneath ashoulder formed by a selector head 142 on the upper end of the selectormember 138. The other end of the lever is pivotally connected to thelower end of the manually actuated slide member 124 so that depressionof such member causes the arms 14% to raise the selector member againstthe action of a compression spring 145 positioned between the horizontalarms 138 of the hanger member and a collar on the selector member 130.

The top surface of the selector head 142 has an upstanding fiange 144extending mound approximately degrees of its periphery and the controlshaft 120 has secured thereto directly above the selector head 142 andflange 144 a rocker member having an arm 146 extending toward the frontof the machine and a similar arm 148 extending toward the rear of themachine. It will be apparent from FIGS. 14, 15 and 17 that raising ofthe selector 130 when it is in the angular position shown in suchfigures by the lever 132 will rock the control shaft 120 in a clockwisedirection in FIG. 17. This will rock the upper arm of the bell crank 118of FIGS. 1 md 14 toward the rear of the machine to actuate the onerevolution device previously described to cause a reciprocation of thecarriage 44.

The selector has three angular positions 120 degrees apart and it willbe apparent that rotation of the selector 130 in a clockwise directionin FIG. 15 will position the flange 144 of the selector head 142 so thatraising the selector will still rock the control shaft in a cloc :wisedirection in FIG. 17 to rock the upper arm of the bell crank 118 ofFIGS. 14 and 1 toward the rear of the machine. Another rotation of theselector through 120 degrees will cause rocking of the control shaft ina counterclockwise direction in FIG. 17, when the selector member israised. This will rock the lower arm of the bell crank 118 toward therear of the machine. A further rotation through 120 degrees will returnthe selector to its original position, which is its normal positionduring tray loading reciprocations of the carriage. The selector isshown in such normal position in FIGS. 14 to 17, but the positions ofthe other parts shown in FIGS. 14 to 17 are such as to cause a cartonpiercing reciprocation of the carriage during which the tray supportsa?! will piece an empty carton in the machine and then be raised totheir upper tray loading position.

The tray support members 41) are of the inverted L- shaped form shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 with upper horizontally disposed tray support portions andalso vertical portions extending downwardly from the tray supportportions. As shown most clearly in FIGS. 3 and 21, the lower ends of thetray support members are rigidly secured to a vertically movable crossmember 154.1 which is guided upon vertically extending guide rods 152secured between the upper and lower front cross members 51? and 52 ofthe carriage 44. The ends of the movable cross member 150 are secured tovertically extending runs of chains 154, one of which is positioned ateach side of the machine.

The chains 154 are each positioned on an upper sprocket 156 (FIGS. 11and 2 1) fixed on a cross shaft 158 journaled in the upper portions ofthe side plate members 46 and 48 of the carriage 44, and are also eachpositioned upon a lower sprocket 1611 journaled on a cross shaftextending between the lower portions of such side plate members. Thevertical portions of the tray support members 46 extend throughapertures in the upper cross member 51} of the carriage and it will beapparent that rotation of the cross shaft 158 will raise and lower thetray support member 411 in the carriage. Such shaft is rotated in onedirection to lower the tray support members 40 in steps as the carriageis reciprocated during filling of the carton thereon with articles to bepacked. The shaft is then rotated in the opposite direction to raisesuch members after a filled carton has been discharged and an emptycarton to be filled has been placed in the machine and pierced by thetray support members.

The angular positions of the selector member 139 of FIGS. 3 and 14 to17, also controls the direction of such rotation of the cross shaft 153for raising and lowering the tray supports 46. The selective rotation ofsuch selector to its three angular positions described above is effectedby the reciprocative movement of the carriage in conjunction with thevertical position of the tray supports 40 and the movable cross member1511 to which they are attached. Thus the lower end of the selector 130slides vertically in a guide member 161 secured to a lower front crossmember 162 and also in a ratchet member 164 keyed to the selector 131iand held in position between such guide member and the cross member 162.A pawl 165 (FIGS. 3 and 14 to 16) is pivoted to the movable cross member151} of the carriage and is positioned to engage the ratchet 164 to turnthe selector member 1311 to the next of its three angular positionswhenever the carriage is returned to its forward position from arearward reciprocation of the carriage and the tray suppots 411 areeither in their next to their lowermost position or in their lowermostposition. A spring pressed stop member 166 pivoted on the lower crossmember holds the selector 13b in each of its three angular positions.

The driving of the chains 154 to raise and lower the tray supportmembers 4!} is accomplished by rotating another sprocket 168 (FIGS. 2and ll) fixed on one end of the Cross shaft 158 upon which the uppersprockets 156 for the chains 154 are also fixed. A drive chain 170 ispositioned on such sprocket and also another sprocket 172 journaled onthe upper rear portion of the side plate member 48 of the carriage 44.

The lower run of the chain 170 is bowed upwardly over an arcuate guidemember 174 secured to the plate member 48 between the sprockets 168 and172. A chain driving member 176 (FIGS. 11 and 12) is pivoted at one ofits ends on a stub shaft 178 secured to the side plate memberconcentrically with the guide member 174. The chain driving member hasits other end connected to the arcuately bowed portion of the chain 170and is of yoke shaped configuration as shown in FIG. 12. A brake member180 (see also FIGS. 2 and 11) is positioned to be straddled by the yokeportion of the chain drive member 176 and has an arcuate surfaceconcentric with the stub shaft 178. Such brake member is also mounted onthe stub shaft 178 and is prevented from rotating relative to the sideplate member 4-8 of the carriage by a bolt 182 extending between thebrake member and side plate member.

The chain drive member 176 has a cam surface 184 spaced radiallyoutwardly from the arcuate surface of the brake member 180 and inclinedrelative thereto so as to be at a lesser distance from the arcuatesurface of the brake member in a direction toward the sprocket 168. Aroller 186 is positioned between and in contacting relationship with thecam surface 134 and the arcuate surface of the brake member and has itsaxis parallel to the stub shaft. It will be apparent that movement ofthe chain driving member 176 and lower run of the chain 170 toward therear of the carriage will jam the roller between such surfaces so as toproduce a braking action preventing such movement. This is the directionof lowering of the tray support members '40 and prevents undesiredlowering 9 thereof by the action of a load on such support members.

A ratchet member 188 is also pivotally mounted on the stub shaft 178 andhas a notched arcuate edge also concentric with such stub shaft. Suchratchet member has a pair of arms 190 and 192 extending axially of theshaft 178 adjacent the roller 186. One of the arms 190 is positioned onthe side of the yoke portion of the chain driving member 176 which istoward the rear of the carriage and the other arm 192 is positioned onthe side of such member 176 which is toward the front of the carriage.The two arms are spaced so as to engage the chain driving member 176with a lost motion action. Each arm has an adjustable element 194directed toward the roller and the adjustment is such that the element1% of the arm 192 forces the roller out of jamming relationship with thesurface 184 to release the braking action, above discussed, when the arm192 is against the chain driving member 176.

The various parts are shown in FIG. 11 in the position in which the traysupporting members 41} are in their uppermost position. Thus the chaindriving member 176 9 and the ratchet member 188 are both pivoted to thelimit of their movement in a clockwise direction in such figure, and thelower run of the chain 170 is therefore also at the limit of itsmovement toward the front of the carriage.

The ratchet member 188 is pivoted in a counter-clockwise direction inFIG. 11 in adjustable steps during a carton filling operation. This isaccomplished by a stepping mechanism including a pawl carrier 196 havingits lower end also pivoted on the stub shaft 178. The pawl carrier has apawl 198 pivotally mounted thereon in position to engage the notches inthe ratchet member 138. The pawl is held in engagement with the ratchetmember 188 by a spring 2% arranged to have an over center action so thatit will also hold the pawl in an elevated position out of contact withthe ratchet member.

The upper end of the pawl carrier 196 is urged toward the front of thecarriage by a tension spring 292 connected to a pawl carrier actuatingmember 204 having one end pivoted to the upper end of the pawl carrierand extending forwardly of the carriage through a guide member 206 onthe upper front portion of the carriage. When the carriage is in itsforward position shown in FIGS. 2 and 11, the forward end of the pawlcarrier actuator 2%4 abuts against the front corner post 66 of themachine to hold the pawl carrier in the position shown in such figures.

The actuator member 204 has a stop device 208 pivotally mounted thereonintermediate the ends of such actuator member. The stop device 208 hasradially extending stops of different lengths. By pivoting the stopdevice on the actuator member 204- to different positions, such stopscan be selectively positioned to be engaged by the guide member 206 onthe carriage 44. When the carriage 44 is moved toward the rear of themachine on a tray loading reciprocation, the spring 202 causes theactuator 204 to remain in contact with the corner post 66 until the oneof the stops on the stop device which is aligned with the actuator isengaged by the guide member 2% on the carriage. The pawl carrier isthereby pivoted in a clockwise direction relative to the ratchet membera distance determined by which stop on the actuator 264- is directedtoward the guide member 206. The shorter, intermediate and longer stopson the stop member 208 may, for example, produce lowering of the traysupport members 40 in either 4, 5 or 6 steps, respectively.

Any drag of the pawl on the ratchet member tending to pivot such ratchetmember toward the front of the machine will tend to jam the roller morefirmly between the braking surface on the brake member 180 and the camsurface on the chain driving member 176 so as to resist such movement ofthe ratchet member. The pawl will drop into the appropriate notch in theratchet member after having traveled a distance determined by theselected stop on the stop member 208.

On return of the carriage to the front of the machine, the actuator2-34- engages the corner post 66 and continued motion of the carriagecauses counterclockwise pivotal motion of the pawl carrier 1% andratchet member 138. The adjustable element 194 of the arm 192 of theratchet member pushes the roller out of jamming engagement with thebrake and cam surfaces above described, and the arm 19?. then engagesthe chain driving member 176 to cause it to pivot such member also in acounterclockwise direction. For example, the ratchet member is movedfrom the position of FIG. 11 to that of FIG. 2 by two reciprocations ofthe carriage. Each step moves the lower run of the chain 170 in adirection toward the rear of the carriage to lower the tray supportmembers 40 a distance determined by the selected stop on the stop member208.

Successive tray loading reciprocations of the carriage progressivelylower the tray supporting members 40* and when such members reach theirlowermost position, the carton has been filled and the ratchet member188 has reached the limit of its counterclockwise movement in FIG. 11.At the start of the next carriage reciprocation,

which is a carton discharging reciprocation described below, the pawlcarrier 196 again pivots in a clockwise direction in *FIG. 11 so thatthe latch end of the pawl 198 is cammed upwardly by the inclined surface210 on the end of the ratchet member toward the front of the carriage.The pawl is thus moved to its upper over center position out ofengagement with the ratchet member. This conditions the tray supportingmechanism for movement of the ratchet member in a clockwise direction inFIG. 11 when the tray supporting members are again raised in asubsequent operation.

Since the tray supporting members 40 are in their lowermost positionunder the conditions just described, the pawl 165 of FIGS. 14- to 16 hastwice rotated the selector 13% from its normal position through anglesof degrees. This happens during return of the carriage from its last twotray loading reciprocations as described above. Such selector member isthus in an angular position which will cause rocking of the controlshaft 120 in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1, when the member 124is manually depressed. This causes a carton discharging reciprocation ofthe carriage including conditioning a front hook member 212. at each endof the machine for engaging the carton to prevent its return with thecarriage to the front of the machine. As shown in FIG. 5, the rear endsof the front hook members 212 are pivotally mounted on pins 213extending upwardly from the front ends of rear hook members 214 formovement about a vertical axis and are urged by springs 216 toward thecenter of the machine. The rear hook members are in turn pivoted at 2.17to the upper portions of stationary support members 218 for movementabout vertical axes. The support members 2 18 are secured to and extendforwardly from the rear corner posts 32 and 34 of the frame.

A slide member 229 on the upper surface of each support member has camsurfaces at its front end which engage the pin 213 of the associatedrear hook member. The slide member also has a cam surface at its rearend which engages another pin 2211 on the associated rear hook member214. The slides will thus pivot such rear hook members about theirpivots 217 so that the front hook members 212' are moved toward thecenter of the machine when the slide members 220 are moved toward thefront of the machine. Such slide members are connected by links 222. oneach side of the machine to upwardly extending arms on the control shaft1211. The link 222 on one s ide of the machine is connected to the upperarm of the bell crank 118 (FIG. 1) and on the other side of the machineto an arm 2'24 (FIGS'. 2, 5 and 14).

When in position of the carriage 44, the carton 42 of FIG. 1 issupported upon rearwardly extending bar members 2296 (FIGS. 5 and 2 1)which are secured at their forward ends to the upper front cross member50 of the carriage. The bar members extend over and slide on rails 228forming part of a carton discharge roller conveyor section 230 having ahorizontally disposed rectangular frame provided with a plurality ofrollers 2-31. The conveyor section 230 is pivoted at 232 (FIG. 4) toupwardly and forwardly extending stationary support members 234 (seealso FIGS. 1 and 2) also secured to the rear corner posts 32) and 34-.The pivots 2.32 provide for tipping of the conveyor section about ahorizontal axis. As shown most clearly in FIG. 21, the rear portions ofthe conveyor section 230 is resiliently supported on tension springs 236 extending between a bracket 238 on a support member 234 and adownwardly extending member 240 secured to the conveyor section 260.

When the control shaft 120 is rocked in a counterclockwise direction inFIG. 1, the slides 220 are moved forwardly from the position shown inFIG. 5 to swing the front hook members 212 in against the carton 4 2 ofFIG. 1. Such swinging motion is suffioient to tension the springs 2.1.6.When the carton has been moved to the rear of the machine by adischarging reciprocation of 11 the carriage 44, the hooks 212 engagebehind the carton to hold it in the rear of the machine. When thecarriage returns forwardly, the tray supporting members 41) arewithdrawn from the carton and also the carton supporting bar members 226are withdrawn from beneath the carton. The weight of the filled cartonis thus placed on the conveyor section 230. The rear end of suchconveyor section tips downwardly against the action of the springs 236and the filled carton moves rearwardly on the rollers 231 out of themachine onto any suitable receiving mechanism. The springs 236 thenreturn the conveyor section 230 to its level position.

The mechanism for raising and lowering the tray supporting members 40has remained inactive during such carton discharging reciprocation ofthe carriage but the counterclockwise rocking of the control shaft 121to cause such reciprocation and the rotation of the selector 130 by thereturn of the carriage from such reciprocation has conditioned suchmechanism so that the tray supporting members will be raised to theiruppermost position during the return of the carriage from its nextreciprocation which is a carton piercing operation. This conditioning isaccomplished by elements shown most clearly in FIGS. 14 and 18, whichelements actuate a link 241 to cause such tray supporting member raisingoperation. Such elements include a link guiding arm 242 journaled on theshaft 120, a link actuating arm 244 fixed on such shaft and a linkrelease member 246 also journaled on the shaft. These elements are shownin the link actuating position in FIGS. 14 and 18 ready to cause raisingof the tray supporting members upon the next manual actuation of themember 124 and resultant reciprocation and return of the carriage. Atall other times the bent end of the link 241 is supported upon the camsurface 248 at the top of the link release arm 246.

A spring 250 (FIG. 14) urges the link release arm in a counterclockwisedirection in FIG. 18 against a stop 252 on the link actuating arm 244-.For the preceding carton discharging reciprocation of the carriagedescribed above, the shaft 120 was rocked in a counterclockwisedirection from its normal position of FIGS. 1 and 18. The link releasingarm 24 6 followed the link actuating arm 244 so as to remove the camsurface 248 from beneath the bent end of the link 241. Such end of thelink then dropped in the slot 254 in the link guiding arm 242 so as tobe positioned in front of a notch 256 in the link actuating arm 244.Such notch is shown most clearly in FIG. 19. Upon return of the carriagefrom such carton discharging operation, the selector 130 is rotated toits position shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. An inclined surface 257 on theleading edge of its upwardly extending flange moves under the rearwardlyextending arm 146 on the control shaft 120 to rock such shaft in aclockwise direction in FIGS. 1 and 18 back to its normal position. Thispushes the link 241 to the right in FIG. 18. This is the position of thelink 24 1 in FIG. 13 except that the bent end of the link has been againraised in the slot by the link release arm 246 in a subsequent operationdescribed below.

The other end of the link 241 is connected to the upper end of anupwardly extending arm of a bell crank member 258 (FIG. 11) pivoted onan upwardly extending bracket 269 (FIG. 13) on the upper track member 62for the carriage. The connection of the link 24-1 to the bell crankmember is by a lost motion connection provided by a slot 259. The bellcrank member 258 is urged in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 11 bya spring 261 and has a horizontally and rearwardly extending arm, whichin the position shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, is in the path of a laterallyextending pin 262 on the upper run of the chain 172. With the positionof the parts of FIG. 11 the carriage has just made a carton piercingreciprocation. Prior to this reciprocation the tray supporting memberswere in their lowermost position and the pin 262 was at the right end ofthe chain 79 in FIG. 11. The link 2&1 and upper arm of the bell crank253 are normally urged to the right in FIG. 11 by a spring 263 connectedbetween the rear end of such link and the frame of the machine. Suchspring is strong enough to overcome the spring 261 and hold the lowerarm of the bell crank member 258 in the raised position shown in FIG. 2against a stop 264 (FiGS. 11 and 13) secured to the bracket 26%) on theupper track member 2 of the frame of the machine. Such stop 264 andspring 261 determine the normal position of the link 24d. However, thelink is held in its left position in FIG. 11 against the action of thespring 261 during the carton piercing reciprocation by having its otherend engaged in the notch 256 (FIGS. 18 and 19) of the link actuatingmember 244 on the control shaft as discussed above.

The lost motion connection provided by the slot 259 in the bell crankmember 258 enabled the control shaft 12% to be rocked in acounterclockwise direction in FIG. 11 to start the carton piercingreciprocation of the carriage. Also when the carriage moved to the rearof the machine during the carton piercing reciprocation, which is in adirection to the right in FIG. 11, the lost motion connection providedby the slot 25? enabled the pin 262 to earn up the horizontallyextending arm of the bell crank 258 and pass under this arm. This armagain dropped to the position shown due to the action of the spring 2-61so that return of the carriage engaged the pin 262 with such arm of thebell crank 258 to hold the upper run of the chain 170 stationary whilethe carriage continued its movement to the left. The sprockets 168 and156 of FIG. 11 are thereby rotated to cause the chains 154 to raise thetray supporting members 40. In FIG. 11, the carriage has returned fromsuch reciprocation and, because the vertical movable cross member of thecarriage is in its uppermost position, a link release member 265 on suchcross member has engaged a downwardly projection portion 266 (see alsoFIGS. 14 and 18) on the link releasing arm 246 to pivot such arm in acounterclockwise direction in FIG. 11 (clockwise in FIG. 18) to cam thebent end of the link 241 upwardly out of the notch 256. As soon as thecarriage starts its next reciprocation, which is a tray loadingreciprocation, the link release member moves out of engagement with therelease arm to allow the spring 263 to pivot the lower arm of the bellcrank member 258 out of the path of the pin zsz. This disables the traysupport raising mechanism until the next carton piercing reciprocationof the carriage.

Holding the upper run of the chain 170 stationary by engagement of thepin 2&2 thereon with the lower arm of the bell crank member 258 duringreturn of the carriage from a carton piercing operation moves the lowerrun of such chain to the right in FIG. 11 with respect to the carriage44 over the arcuate chain guide 174. This pivots the chain drivingmember 176 in a clockwise direction in such figure to force it againstthe arm 192 on the ratchet member 188 which is at the right of the chaindriving member in FIG. 11. The adjustable member 1194 on such arm movesthe roller 186 out of jamming contact with the brake member 180 and thecam surface 184 on the chain driving member to release the brakingaction described above. The chain driving mem ber can therefore pivotthe ratchet member to the position shown in FIG. 11. In such position,an inclined surface 26'? on the left end of the ratchet member engagesthe end of the pawl l138 opposite its ratchet engaging end to return thepawl from its upper overcenter position described above to its lowerovercenter position shown in FIG. 11. In the latter position, it isconditioned to engage the ratchet 188 for subsequent tray support memberlowering operations during the succeeding tray loading reciprocations ofthe carriage.

Prior to the carton piercing reciprocation just described, an emptycarton is placed manually in the machine so as to rest on the conveyorsection 230 at the rear of the machine, but such carton does not haveenough weight to tip such section about its pivots 232. The clockwiserocking of the control shaft 120 in FIGS. 1 and 18 under control of theselector 130 to cause a carton piercing reciprocation of the carriage,also moved the slides 220 (FIG. rearwardly to swing the front hookmembers 212 out of the path of the carton and place the rear hookmembers 21% in the position of HG. 5 so as to engage the rear of thecarton. Movement of the carriage rearwardly thus causes the traysupporting members 46 to pierce the carton while held by the hookmembers 214. Such supporting members have short angular knife edges 268in the side of the right angular bends therein to cut a lower corner ofthe carton and enable the supporting members 40 to move horizontallyentirely into the carton. The carriage also has an upper hooked portion270 on an upstanding front plate 272 secured to the upper cross memberof the carriage. Such hooked portion is positioned over the upper frontedge of the carton at the end of the rearward movement of the carriage.Upon return of the carriage to the front of the machine, the traysupporting members are raised as above described and during such raisingoperation, the hooked upper portion 270 prevents upward movement of thecarton.

When the empty carton has thus been pierced and the tray support membersraised in the carton, the machine is ready for a series of cartonloading reciprocation of the carriage. Each time the carriage approachesits rear position in the machine in a tray loading reciprocation, themeasuring chute is actuated to place a measured load of articles on atray previously manually placed in the carton, but the measuring chuteis not actuated during carton discharging and carton piercingreciprocations of the carriage. The measuring chute is of the generaltype shown in the patent of Carlsen No. 2,797,- 540. As shown in FIGS.1, 3 and 8, such chute is supported between side plates 274 extendingforwardly from the rear corner posts 32 and 34. Such chute is secured toa cross shaft 276 journaled in the side plates 274 and has its lowerportion in alignment with a supply chute 27 8.

A measured supply of fruit or other articles to be packed enters themeasuring chute 36 and is held therein by a gate 280 adjustably mountedon gate support rods 232 at the sides of the chute 36. The rods extendrearwardly and downwardly and are pivoted to the side plates 274 at therear ends of the rods. An arm 2S4 rigidly secured on the shaft 276 hasconnected to its free end a link 286 so that upward movement of the linkpivots the chute 36 to depress its front end and elevate its rear end.Such rear end carries another gate 288 extending downwardly therefromwhich closes the supply chute. Such downward tipping of the measuringchute 36 causes laterally extending ears 296 on such chute to engage andpivot the front end of the gate support rods 282 upwardly to raise thegate 288 and discharge the measured load onto a tray in the carton.

The link 286 has its lower end connected to one end of a chute actuatingarm 360 (FIG. 1) which has its other end mounted on a pivot 302 carriedby a support member 303 secured to the side of the frame of the machine.The end of the arm 3% to which the link 286 is connected is raised by areciprocable cam member 3% mounted on a sliding rod 306 having one endslidable in a bracket 397 on the support member 393 and its other endslidable in a bracket 308 on the carriage 44. The cam merniber ispositioned to engage on intermediate portion of the arm 3%. The slidingrod 3&6 has a collar 310 fixed intermediate its ends and when thecarriage 44 is reciprocated to the rear of the machine, the collar isengaged by the bracket 3&8 on the carriage to move the rod and cammember 3% to the right in FIG. 1 to rotate the arm 3% about its pivot3ll2 and thereby raise the link 236 to actuate the measuring chute 36.

The link remains in elevated or chute actuating position until thecarriage 44 has returned to nearly its front position in the machine.The bracket 308 then engages a spring 312 held on the front end of thepush rod 306 by a collar so that the cam member is pulled to the left inFIG. 1. This allows the chute to return to its normal position forreceiving another load of articles to be packed. The articles to bepacked are spread on a tray in the upper portion of the carton 42 duringreturn of the carriage to its front position and this operation isrepeated for each tray filling reciprocation of the carriage.

Just prior to a carton discharging reciprocation of a filled carton, thepawl 165 shown in FIGS. 3 and 14 has been lowered to twice rotate theselector 130 through an angle of 120 degrees to a position which causesthe control shaft 120 to be rockeed in a counterclockwise direction inFIG. 1 upon the next manual depression of the member 124. Such rockingof the control shaft moves the slides 220 (FIG. 5) for actuating thehook members 212 and 214 to their forward position. The slide 226) atthe right of the machine in FIG. 5 has an outwardly and downwardlydepending member 314 (FIGS. 1 and 6) which carries an element engagingthe upper end of a pivoted cam member 316 mounted upon a pivot 318(FIGS. 6 and 7) secured to the support member 303 (FIGS. 1 and 6). Thepivoted arm 300 is also slidable laterally of the machine on its pivot302 and a compression spring 320 on the pivot 302 urges it toward thesupport member 303 and into alignment with the reciprocable cam member304 on the push rod 306. When the pivoted cam member 316 is rocked in acounterclockwise direction in FIGS. 1 and 6, the lower end of suchmember engages the arm 300 to cam it outwardly against the action of thespring 320 so as to remove such arm from the path of the cam member 304.The rearward movement of such cam member during the carton dischargereciprocation of the carriage therefore does not pivot the arm 3% toactuate the measuring chute. The lower end of the pivoted cam member 316is moved behind the arm 3% so that it remains in such position untilforcibly removed.

Near the end of the rearward travel of the carriage in its cartondischarging reciprocation, a laterally extending pin 322 on the shaftfor the rear carriage roller 54, on the side of the machine shown inFIG. 1, strikes a downwardly extending arm 324 to pivot the lower end ofsuch arm toward the rear of the machine. The lower end of such arm isconnected tothe upper arm of pivoted cam member 316 by a spring 326 andtends to pivot such cam member out of engagement with the pivoted arm300. The slide 22% carrying the depending member 314 is, however, stillin its forward position and prevents such pivoting the cam member. Thelower end of the pivoted cam member 316 thus remains behind the arm 3%to keep it out of the path of the cam member 304 to prevent actuation ofthe measuring chute.

At the beginning of the next reciprocation of the carriage, which is acarton piercing reciprocation, the control shaft 126 is rocked in aclockwise direction in FIG. 1 to move the slide 220 and depending member314 rearwardly in the machine. Such depending member is moved out ofengagement with the upper arm of the pivoted cam member 316. Such cammember, however, remains in behind the arm 300 to hold such arm out ofthe path of the cam member 3-34 until the pin 322 on the carriagestrikes the arm 324 to tension the spring 326. This pivots the cammember 316 to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 so that the trayactuating mechanism is conditioned for operation during the succeedingtray loading reciprocations of the carriage. The pivoting of the cammember 316 out of contact with the arm 300 occurs too late in the travelof the carriage during the carton piercing reciprocation to actuate themeasuring chute 36 in that reciprocation since the cam 304 is alreadybehind the chute actuating arm 300. Upon return of the aoaaeaa 15carriage to its front position, the cam 304 is returned to its forwardposition and the spring 320 moves the arm 309 back into the path of thecam 304. The machine is then in condition for another series of trayloading reciprocations of the carriage.

The operation of the machine should be apparent from the above detaileddescription but a statement of operation will be given in conjunctionwith diagrammatic FIGS. 22 to 28, which also illustrate the method ofthe present invention. It is convenient to start with the traysupporting members 40 in their lowermost position ready to pierce anempty carton 42 which has been manually placed on the conveyor section230 in the rear of the machine. The control mechanism of FIGS. 14 to 20are all in the position shown in such figures so that manual depressionof the member 124 to raise the selector 130 causes the flange 144 of theselector to engage the forwardly extending arm 146 on the control shaft120 to rock such shaft in a clockwise direction in FlG. 1. This pushesthe two links 222 (FIGS. 1, 2 and toward the rear of the machine to movethe cam slides 22% rearwardly and pivot the rear hook members 214 intoposition behind the carton.

The rocking of the control shaft 120 clockwise in FIG. 1 also pushes thelink 114 rearwardly to rock the drive control shaft 120 clockwise insuch figure and in FIG. 10. This pivots the belt tightening arm 96 ofFIG. '10 to cause the roller 98 to tighten the belt 94 and start therotation of speed reducer input shaft 84. The crank arm 74 on the speedreducer output shaft 76 (FIG. 9) rotates to release the pivoted followermember ltlh and connected pivoted arm holding member 192 so that theshoulder on the latter member engages under the end of the arm 96 tomaintain the belt 94 in tightened condition and the drive in operation.The drive continues until the crank arm has made one revolution at whichtime it engages follower member 100 to pivot such member and the armholding member 108 to release the belt tightening arm 78. The spring 110pivots the belt tightening arm to loosen the belt 94 and stop the drive.This also rocks the drive control shaft 82 in a counterclockwisedirection in FIGS. 10 and l to similarly rock the control shaft 12%}through the link 114 back to its normal position.

The one revolution of the crank arm 74, acting through the connectingrod 68, causes the carriage to make a reciprocation to the rear of themachine and back to the front of the machine. In its rearward travel,the tray supporting members 40 move from the position shown in FIG. 22to the position shown in FIG. 23. The pointed upper portions penetrate aside wall of the carton just above the bottom wall and the knife edges268 of the tray supporting members out through the lower corner of thecarton while the carton is held in position by the rear hook members 214so that such upper portions move entirely within the carton. Also thecarton supporting bars 226 are in- I serted below the carton 42 and thehooked upper end 27% of the front plate 272 of the carriage has hookedover the front upper edge of the carton.

Upon return of the carriage from its rear position shown in FIG. 23 toits front position shown in FIG. 24, the tray supporting members areraised from their lower position shown in FIG. 23 to their upperposition shown in FIG. 24. The carton 42 is held down during thisoperation by the hooked portion 270 of the front plate 272. The raisingof the tray support members is accomplished by positioning the lower armof the bell crank member 253 of FIGS. 2, 11 and 13 in the path of a pin262 on the drive 170. This pin was at the right of the upper run of thechain 178 in FIGS. 2 and 11 at the beginning of the carton piercingreciprocation of the carriage and at the same time, the lower arm of thebell crank member 258 was being held in the path of the pin by thespring 2611. When the carriage made its rearward movement during suchreciprocation, the pin 262 cammed up and passed under the lower 16 armof the bell crank member 258 and such arm then dropped in front of thepin. 7

The pawl 19% (FIGS. 2 and 11) is in its upper inactive position and uponreturn movement of the carriage 4-4, the upper run of the chain 170 isheld stationary so that such upper run is moved rearwardly relative tothe carriage. This rotates the sprockets 16S and 156 of FIG. 11 to raisethe tray support members. This also moves the lower run of the chain 176forwardly relative to the carriage to pivot the chain driving member 176in a clockwise direction in FIG. 1-1. This releases the braking actioncaused by the roller 186 between the chain driving member 176 and thebraking member 189 and pivots the ratchet member 188 clockwise in FIG.11 to the position shown in such figure. The pawl 198 on the pawlcarrier 196 is pivoted over center from its upper inactive position toits lower ratchet engaging position shown in PKG. 11.

The bell crank member was held in the position of FIG. 11 during thecarton piercing operation because the forward end of the link 241 wasengaged in a notch 256 (FIG. 19) of a link actuating arm 244 fixed onthe control shaft 129 (FIGS. 2, 11 and 14 to 20) and the control shaftwas held in its normal position to prevent forward rocking of the arm244- by the upwardly extending flange 144 (FIGS. 14 and 15) of theselector 13% being positioned below a forwardly extending arm on thecontrol shaft 120. This held the link 241 in its rearward or leftposition in FIG. 11 against the action of the spring 263 to enable thespring 261 to pivot the bell crank member to the position in front ofthe pin 262 shown in such figure.

Return of the carriage to its front position also causes a linkreleasing member 265 on the vertically movable cross member of thecarriage 44 to engage a downwardly projecting portion 266 on a linkrelease arm 246 (FIG. 18) to pivot such arm in a clockwise direction inFIG. 18 to earn the bent end of the link 241 upwardly out of the notchin the link actuating arm 244. This is the position of the parts in FIG.11 and it is the engagement of the link releasing member 265 with thedownwardly projecting portion 266 of the link releasing arm 246 which isstill holding the link 241 in its rearward position shown.

As soon as the carriage starts another reciprocation, the link releasingmember 265 will move out of contact with the downwardly projectingportion 266 of the link releasing arm 246 so that the spring 263 willmove the link 241 to the right in FIG. 11 and pivot the bell crankmember to its inactive position shown in FIG. 2. The bell crank memberremains in such position until the next carton piercing and traysupporting member raising reciprocation of the carriage. The linkreleasing member 265 moves downwardly with the tray supporting membersduring return of the carriage from its next or first tray loadingreciprocation and does not again engage the link releasing arm 246 untilthe tray supporting members are again raised.

During the carton piercing and tray supporting member raisingreciprocation just described, actuation of the measuring chute todeliver a load into the carton is prevented. The pivoted cam 316 ofFIGS. 1, 6 and 7 had its lower end positioned behind the chute actuatingarm 3% to move it laterally outwardly of the machine out of the path ofthe cam 304 on the sliding rod 306 which is moved by the carriage 44during a reciprocation of the carriage. The link 286 and chute arm 284were therefor not actuated. During the latter part of the rearwardmovement of the carriage in its carton piercing reciprocation, the pin322 (FIG. 1) on the carriage engaged the pivoted arm 324 to tension thespring 326 to pivot the cam member 316 and remove its lower end frombehind the chute actuating arm 30%. The spring 320 (FIG. 7) urges thechute actuating arm 3% toward the path of the cam 364 but such cam isalready behind the arm 3%. When the carriage returns to its forwardposition, the sliding rod 3% is moved forwardly to remove the cam 334from behind the arm 300. The arm 3% is then moved into the path of thecam 304 17 and the machine is in condition for a first tray loadingoperation.

The selector .130 of FIGS. 14 to 17 was not rotated during the cartonpiercing and tray supporting member raising reciprocation described.Depressing of the manually actuated member 124 again causes rocking ofthe control shaft 120 in a clockwise direction in FIG. 1. As explainedrelative to the carton piercing reciprocation of the carriage 44, thisrocking of the control shaft causes a revolution of the carriage driveto produce a reciprocation of the carriage. In the first tray loadingreciprocation the carton 42 is first moved from the front position shownin FIG. 24 to the rear position shown in FIG. 25. During the latter partof such movement, the measuring chute 36 is tipped to start the deliveryof a load of articles to be packed upon the tray 38 on the supports 41This occurs when the bracket 303 (FIG. 1) engages the collar 310 on thesliding rod 3116 to force the reciprocable cam member 364 under thechute actuating arm 300, which is now positioned in the path of the cam304. This rocks the arm 30% upwardly to tip the chute 36 through thelink 286 and arm 284 on the cross shaft 276 fixed to the chute 36.

During the return of the carriage from its rear position of FIG. 25 toits front position of FIG. 26, the articles to be packed are spread onthe tray 33 and the chute 36 tipped back to its normal position. Suchtipping occurs when the bracket 308 (FIG. 1) on the carriage engages thespring 312 on the sliding rod 306 to withdraw the cam member 304 frombeneath the chute actuating arm 390 to allow such arm and chute 36 toassume the position of FIG. 1.

During the latter part of such return of the carriage, the traysupporting members are lowered from their upper position shown in FIG.25 to the next lower position shown in FIG. 26. When the carriage beganits rearward movement, the spring 262 of FIGS. 2 and all caused the pawlcarrier actuating member 204 to remain stationary so as to pivot thepawl carrier 196 of the carriage in a clockwise direction in FIG. 2.This pivoting was selectively limited by positioning a desired stop onthe pivoted stop member 208 so as to be directed toward and engage aguide member 206 for the actuator 204, which guide member is on thecarriage 44. The length of the selected stop on the stop member 268determines how far the pawl carrier 1% is thus pivoted and how far thepawl 198 on such carrier moves along the notched surface of the ratchetmember 188. The three stops shown on the stop member 2% may, forexample, provide for loading 4, 5 or 6 trays into the carton, the longerthe stop selected the greater the number of trays in a carton for whichthe machine is set.

Upon return of the carriage to its front position of FIG. 26, the pawlcarrier actuator of FIGS. 2 and 11 engages a front corner post 66 of theframe of the machine to stop such actuator. As movement of the carriagecontinues, the pawl carrier 196 is pivoted counterclockwise in FIGS. 2and 11. The pawl 198 thereon is in its lower overcenter position so asto engage and pivot the ratchet m mber 188 a distance determined by theselected stop on the stop member 298. The arm 192 on the ratchet member,which is at the right of the chain driving member 176 in FIG. 11,engages the chain driving member and the adjustable member 194 on sucharm engages the roller 186 to release the braking action on the brakemember. The chain driving member is thus pivoted to the left in FIG. 11to move the lower run of the chain 170 toward the rear of the carriageand drive the sprockets 168 and 156 to lower the cross member 150carrying the tray supporting members 40 to the position of FIG. 26.

Another tray 38' is placed in the carton on top of the articles packedtherein. The selector 130 of FIGS. 3 and 14 to 17 was not rotated duringthe first tray packing reciprocation of the carriage described above,and another manual depression of the member 124 of FIGS. 1 to 3 and 14will cause another tray loading reciprocation of the carriage in whichthe operation of the machine is the same as in the tray loadingreciprocation just described. Thus rearward movement of the carriagemoves the carton to the position shown in FIG. 27 in which the chute 36has again been tipped to direct a load of articles to be packed upon thetray 38. The following forward movement of the carriage spreads thearticles on such tray and again lowers the tray supporting members 40.The tray loading reciprocation of the carriage continues until thecarton is full.

When the carriage returns to its front position in the machine duringits next to the last tray loading reciprocation in a carton fillingcycle, the pawl '165 of FIGS. 3 and 14 to 16 has been loweredsufliciently in the machine to engage the ratchet 164 keyed to theselector to rotate the selector through 124 degrees. Such pawl iscarried by the vertically movable cross member of the carriage which islowered to lower the tray supporting members 40. Such rotation of theselector 130 does not change the operation of the machine during thenext reciprocation of the carriage, which is the last tray loadingreciprocation in a carton filling cycle, but does position the selectorso that the next rotation thereof through 120 degrees conditions theselector to cause a carton discharging reciprocation of the carriage.Such next rotation of the selector 130 is produced by engagement of thepawl with the ratchet 164 during the return of the carriage 44 in itslast tray loading reciprocation in a carton filling cycle. The flange144 (FIGS. 14 to 17) of the selector 130 is thereby positioned to causethe next manual depression of the member 124 to rotate the control shaft120 in a counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 18 and 1.

The return of the carriage during the last tray loading reciprocation ina carton filling cycle also lowered the tray supporting members 40 totheir lowermost position. This means that the ratchet member 188 ofFIGS. 2 and 11 has been pivoted to its extreme counterclockwise positionin such figures and that the ratchet engaging end of the pawl 198 on thepawl carrier will be cammed upwardly by the inclined surface on thefront end of the ratchet member at the beginning of the nextreciprocation of the carriage. This will move the pawl to its upperovercenter position out of contact with the ratchet.

I The next reciprocation of the carriage 44, 'which is the cartondischarging operation, is initiated by manually depressing the member124 to rotate the control shaft 120 in a counterclockwise direction inFIGS. 18 and 1. Such rotation of the shaft 120 pushes the link 116 ofFIG. 1 rearwardly to rock the drive control shaft 82 in a clockwisedirection in such figure to cause-a reciprocation of the carriage. Italso pulls the links 222 of FIGS. 1 to 5 forwardly to move the camslides 220, best shown in FIG. 5, forwardly to pivot the rearhookmembers 214 out of the rearward path of the carton and pivot the fronthook members 212 inwardly into position to engage the front of thecarton. Forward movement of the slide 220 in FIG. 1 moves the dependingmember 314 carried thereby forwardly to rock the pivoted cam 316 ofFIGS. 1, 6

and 7 to move the lower end of such cam member behind the measuringchute actuating arm 300. This moves the arm 300 laterally against theaction of the spring 320' so that such arm is out of the path of the cam3-04 on the sliding rod 3116 moved by the carriage. This preventsactuation of the measuring chute 36 during the carton dischargingreciprocation of the carriage.

In FIG. 28 the carton 42 after being filled has been moved to a rearwardposition in the machine by a rearward movement of the carriage during acarton discharging reciprocation of the carriage. The front hook members212 have pivoted in front of the carton and the return of the carriagehas pulled the tray supporting members 40 from the filled carton. Alsothe carton supporting bars 226 have been pulled from beneath the cartonand the 1 weight of the filled carton has tipped the rear end of thedischarge conveyor section 2230 downwardly so that the filled carton isdischarged from the machine.

The counterclockwise rocking of the control shaft 120 in FIGS. 1 and 18to initiate the carton discharging reciprocation of the carriage, alsorocked the link releasing arm 246 of FIG. 18 out from under the bent endof the link 241 so that such end of the link dropped in the slot 254 inthe link guiding arm 24-2 so as to be positioned in front of the notch256 (FIG. 19) in the link actuating arm 244. The shaft remains in itsrocked position until near the end of the return movement of thecarriage from its carton discharging reciprocation so that the bellcrank member 258 of FIGS. 2 and 11 remains in its inactive positionshown in FIG. 2 during such reciprocation. Near the end of such returnmotion of the carriage, the pawl 165 of FIGS. 3 and 14 to 16 againengages and rotates the selector 130 to cause the inclined surface 257(FIG. 14) to raise the arm 146 on the shaft 120 and rock such shaft in aclockwise direction in FIG. 19 to push the link 241 rearwardly in themachine. This enables the spring 261 (FIGS. 1 and 11) to rock the bellcrank member 258 from the inactive position of FIG. 1 to the position ofFIG. 11 in which the lower arm of the bell crank member can engage thepin 262 (FIGS. 11 and 13) on the chain 170 to cause raising of the traysupport members in the next or carton piercing reciprocation of thecarriage. The parts are therefore again in the positions described abovefor the start of a tray piercing and tray supporting member raisingreciprocation. Another empty carton is placed in the position in therear of the machine as indicated in FIG. 22 and the manually actuatedmember 124, shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 14, again depressed to initiatethe first of a series of operations which position tray supportingmembers in the carton and thereafter provide for loading and loweringthe trays in the carton until the carton is filled and then withdraw thetray supporting members from the carton and discharge the carton fromthe machine.

[I claim:

1. A machine for packing articles on article holding trays in acontainer having an open top, which machine comprises, support meansincluding elongated horizontally extending pointed portions insertableinto said container through a side wall of said container for supportinga tray of articles in said container adjacent the top of said container,means for forcing said pointed portions through a lower portion of saidside wall to cause said pointed portions to puncture said side wall andenter said container, means to elevate said portions in said container,means for progressively lowering said portions relative to saidcontainer to provide for loading additional trays and articles into saidcontainer to fill said container, and means for withdrawing saidportions from the resulting filled container through said side wall.

2. A machine for packing articles on article holding trays in acontainer having an open top, which machine comprises, support meansincluding elongated horizontally extending pointed portions insertableinto said container through a side wall of said container for supportinga tray of articles in said container, means for relatively moving saidsupport means and said container to cause said pointed portions topuncture the lower part of said wall and to raise said portions relativeto said container to provide for supporting said tray of articlesadjacent the top of said container, means for relatively moving saidsupport means and said container for progressively lowering saidportions'relative to said container to provide for loading additionaltrays and articles into said carton to fill said container, and meansfor relatively moving said support means and said container forwithdrawing said portions from the resulting filled container throughsaid wall.

3. A machine for packing articles on article supporting ,trays in acontainer, which comprises, supporting means 29 for a tray or stack ofsaid trays and articles in a container having an open top but otherwiseclosed, said supporting means including elongated members having freeends provided with points, means for moving said members rela- 5 tive tosaid container for driving said points through the lower portion of awall of said container and for inserting and elevating said members insaid container, and means for progressively lowering said membersrelative to said container as said container is filled with said traysand said articles and for thereafter moving said members relative tosaid container for withdrawing said members from said container throughsaid wall.

4. A machine for packing articles on article supporting trays in acontainer, which comprises, supporting means insertable into a containerhaving an open top but otherwise closed, said supporting means includingelongated members having free ends, means for driving said free endsthrough the lower portion of a side wall of said container and forinserting said members into said container by a longitudinal movement ofsaid members parallel to a bottom wall of said container, saidsupporting means having supporting portions extending parallel to saidside wall, means for elevating said supporting means in said containerby movement thereof in a direction parallel to said side wall, means forprogressively lowering said supporting means as said container is filledwith said trays and said articles and means for withdrawing saidsupporting means through said side wall.

5. A machine for packing articles on article holding 30 trays in acontainer having an open top but which is otherwise closed, whichmachine comprises, supporting means having pointed members for piercinga Wall of said container and insertable into said container through saidwall for supporting a tray in said container adjacent the top of saidcontainer, means for driving said pointed members through said wall,means for depositing a load of articles on said tray in said container,means for lowering said supporting means relative to said container toprovide for positioning at least another tray on said articles and fordepositing additional articles on said other tray and means forwithdrawing said support means through said wall.

6. -A machine for packing articles upon article holding trays in acarton, comprising means for supporting in said machine a carton havingan open top but otherwise closed,

4 a plurality of elongated tray supporting means having lower verticallyextending portions and upper horizontally extending portions terminatingin free ends, means for relatively horizontally moving said supportingmeans and said carton to pierce a side wall of said carton with said 59free ends adjacent a lower corner of said carton and move saidhorizontally extending portions into said carton, means for relativelyvertically moving said supporting means and said carton to move saidvertically extending portions into said carton and position saidhorizontally extending portions adjacent said top of said carton, meansfor relatively vertically moving said supporting means and said cartonto lower said supporting means relative to the top of said carton astrays and articles are loaded into said carton through said open top soas to still said carton, and

60 means for relatively horizontally moving said carton and saidsupporting means to withdraw said supporting means from said carton.

7. A machine for packing articles upon article holding trays in acarton, comprising, a reciprocable carriage for 5 holding a cartonhaving an open top in said machine, a

plurality of elongated tray supporting means on said carriage, saidsupporting means having lower vertically extending portions and upperhorizontally extending portions parallel to the path of said carriageand terminating in free ends, means for holding said carton in saidmachine in the path of said horizontally extending portions, means forhorizontally moving said carriage toward said carton to pierce a sidewall of said carton with said free ends adjacent a lower corner of saidcarton and move said horizontally extending portions into said carton tothereby position said carton on said carriage, means for holding saidcarton on said carriage against vertical movement and for moving saidsupporting means upwardly to move said vertically extending portionsinto said carton and position said horizontally extending portionsadjacent said top of said carton, means for progressively lowering saidsupporting means in said carton as said trays and articles are loadedinto said carton through said open top until said carton is filled andsaid supporting means are in the lower portion of said carton, and meansfor horizontally moving said carriage away from said carton to withdrawsaid supporting means from said carton.

8. A machine for packing articles upon article holding trays in acarton, comprising, a horizontally reciprocable carriage for holding acarton having an open top in said machine, a plurality of elongated traysupporting means on said carriage, said supporting means havingvertically extending portions and upper horizontally extending portionsparallel to the path of said carriage and terminating in free ends,means for holding an empty carton in the path of said carriage, meansfor moving said carriage toward said carton to pierce a side Wall ofsaid carton with said free ends adjacent a lower corner of said cartonand move said horizontally extending portions into said carton, meansfor returning said carriage and moving said supporting means upwardly tomove said vertically extending portions into said carton and positionsaid horizontally .extending portions adjacent the top of said carton toenable a tray to be positioned thereon adjacent said top, a measuringchute for articles to be packed in said carton, means for reciprocatingsaid carriage under said-measuring chute to deposit a load of saidarticles on said tray including means for returning said carriage andfor lower ing said supporting means in said carton, to enable thepositioning of another tray in said carton, means for repeating saidreciprocations to fill said carton, and means for relatively withdrawingsaid supporting means from the filled carton and discharging said filledcarton from said machine.

9. The method of packing a container, which comprises, piercing a wallof said container with a plurality of spaced pointed tray supports,supporting an article receiving tray adjacent the open top of saidcontainer on said supports, filling said tray wtih articles to be packedand lowering said supports in said container to lower the resultantfilled tray, placing another tray in said container on top of saidfilled tray, filling said other tray with said articles and againlowering said supports to lower the resulting stack of trays andarticles, continuing to place and fill trays in said container whilelowering said supports until said container is filled and thenwithdrawing said supportswfrom said container through said wall.

10. The method defined in claim 9 in which the container is reciprocatedunder a measuring chute to fill each of said trays with said articles.

11. The method of packing a carton with articles supported upon trays,which comprises, piercing the lower portion of a side wall of saidcarton with a plurality of spaced horizontally extending and pointedtray supports and inserting said supports into said carton through saidside Wall, filling a first tray with said articles and supporting theresulting first filled tray on said supports adjacent the top of saidcarton while the top of said carton is open, lowering said supports tolower the filled tray a distance substantially equal to the height ofsaid filled tray, filling a second tray with said articles andsupporting the resulting second filled tray on said first filled tray,lowering said supports to lower resulting stack of trays and articlessaid distance, continuing the filling and supporting of trays andlowering of said supports until said canton is filled, and withdrawingsaid support from said carton through said side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,269,115 Reese June. 11, 1918 1,512,603 Kasser Oct. 21, 1924 1,686,375Greer Oct. 2, .1928 2,045,292 Carey June 23, 1936 2,825,193 LoveridgeMar. 4, 1958 2,827,082 Baum Mar. 18, 1958 2,834,169 Stuart May 13, 19582,910,193 Lindeman et al. Oct. 27, 1959 2,921,702 Gross Jan. 9, 1960UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,049,844 August 21, 1962 Ammon M, Leitzel It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and thatthe said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, line 27 for "fro mthat" read from that column 6, line 41, for"repression" read depression column 13, line 14, for "side" read insidecolumn 22, line 29, for "support" read supports Signed and sealed this1st day of January 1963.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

